System and method for searching extended regular expressions

ABSTRACT

A system and method for searching extended regular expressions. The system enables users to submit searches for extended regular expressions. The searches may be arbitrarily complex. Searches may also be performed for Unicode and ASCII strings. The system may parse the extended regular expression to be searched and search one or more object stores for extended regular expressions satisfying the search. The extended regular expressions located may then be presented to the user.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This Application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Serial No. 60/209,644, filed Jun. 5, 2000, which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to a system and method for searchingextended regular expressions. More particularly, the invention relatesto a system and method for enabling a user to search extended regularexpressions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Modem database applications are typically designed usingrelational data models that are implemented by well known technologiessuch as DB2. For many applications, a relational data model works well.For some applications, however, the relational database model limits theability to represent complex conceptual information. Such systemstypically store data in tables that include one or more columns. Whendata is stored in the tables, the data may not occupy all or a portionof one or more columns. Therefore, data storage space that includesunused columns may be unused. Additionally, such systems typicallyrequire a new table schema to be defined for each data collection to besaved. Therefore, data to be stored must be assembled by the system topopulate the table's schema within the table. Additionally, systemstypically only allow navigation through the table in a downwarddirection.

[0004] These tables contain named columns of information and one row foreach data observation. Related tables may be joined by one or morecolumns that contain a common field. The descriptions of all tables,columns, and relationships are contained in the database schema, whichis typically maintained by a full-time database administrator (DBA). Thedefinition of new tables, columns, or relationships usually requires theintervention of a DBA.

[0005] Many applications typically store dense lists of information,such as financial data or employee records, where most data columns arefully populated. Other applications, such as name and addressdirectories or product catalogues, contain sparse information. That is,out of many potential data elements, only a few may exist in anyparticular record. Address directories on product catalogues typicallymaintain relationships, especially inheritances that are usually moreeasily understood when expressed in hierarchical trees rather thanjoined relational tables.

[0006] Another drawback of existing systems is that data collections tobe stored must be transformed to a format compatible with a table to beused to store the data. This may require modification of existing schemaor reformatting a database to a particular format. This may includereorganization and possible downtime for the database.

[0007] Another drawback with existing systems is that multiple diskreads may be necessary for retrieving rows within a table. For example,if a user desires to further limit a search, and the user insertsadditional criteria for searching an object, existing systems typicallyaccess a server each time an additional search criteria is input. Thismay slow the performance of the server and increase processing time.

[0008] Relational databases are used to store relationships amongtables. Relational databases, however, are not very suitable for storinghierarchies. Therefore, hierarchical databases typically are used tostore hierarchies. Data elements are stored as fixed lengths. If a dataelement does not occupy the fixed lengths, the excess data storage spacemay be wasted.

[0009] Existing systems are typically slow to resolve queries. Forexample, a query may take one hundred (100) milliseconds to be resolved.Another drawback is that applications are typically coded to retrieveone or at most a few attributes on any one server call. This may lead tomultiple calls being issued to a server against the same datacollection. Furthermore, because only portions of a data collection areretrieved, existing systems typically parse the data collection forparticular information being requested. Parsing may occur for each callissued to a server. This may also increase processing time.

[0010] These and other drawbacks exist.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] One object of the invention is to overcome these and otherdrawbacks of the existing systems.

[0012] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor searching extended regular expressions.

[0013] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor enabling a user to search for extended regular expressions.

[0014] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor enabling a user to search an arbitrarily complex regular extendedexpression.

[0015] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor enabling a user to search for a Unicode string.

[0016] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor enabling a user to search for an ASCII string.

[0017] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing and transmitting a hierarchical data list (HDL).

[0018] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor enabling an HDL to be stored to be a self-defining object.

[0019] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor retrieving an HDL with a single call.

[0020] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor retrieving HDLs without requiring parsing of information.

[0021] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing HDLs with the ability to navigate and read a hierarchy ofthe entire HDL.

[0022] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing HDLs that do not require reformatting or reorganization ofdata.

[0023] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing Hierarchical Data Elements (HDE) that do not require a fixedlength attribute.

[0024] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing HDLs that enable an application to locate an HDE or HDLcontained therein using any attribute of that HDL.

[0025] Another object of the invention is to provide a system and methodfor storing HDLs that enables load balancing among HDL database servers.

[0026] The invention relates to a system and method for searchingextended regular expressions. The invention enables users to submitsearches for extended regular expressions. The searches may bearbitrarily complex. Searches may also be performed for Unicode andASCII strings. The invention may parse the extended regular expressionto be searched and search one or more object stores for extended regularexpressions satisfying the search. The extended regular expressionslocated may then be presented to the user.

[0027] The invention also relates to a system and method for storing andtransmitting data. The data may be stored as an HDL, HDC, or an HDE. AnHDE may include a structure that comprises a ‘name’, syntax, and value.Additionally, an HDE describes its relationship to sibling objectsand/or a parent HDE. One example of an HDE is a linked attribute valuepair (LAVP). An HDC is a particular type of HDE that comprises a nameand pointers to a list of zero or more HDEs. An example of an HDC is alinked attribute value list (LAVL). An HDL may be an HDC and itscollection of zero or more HDEs. An example of and HDL may be an LAVLand zero or more LAVPs.

[0028] The invention provides a system and method for representing,storing, transmitting, and retrieving information. The invention uses ahybrid data object containing hierarchical information and referencesback-end databases that may be stored with one or more keys that aredynamically derived from an HDE's content when the object is stored. Theinvention enables sufficient storage and retrieval of HDLs usingindexing with Structured Query Language (SQL)-like complex querycapabilities. Each HDL and HDE may be a self-defining entity. That is,each HDL and HDE contains its own schema. Each HDL may containinformation to determine the attributes of the HDL, HDE, and each dataelement. The invention also enables rapid navigation, transmission,searching, construction, manipulation, and deletion of HDLs and HDEs.

[0029] The HDL may include collections of HDEs and possibly, othersubordinate HDLs. This recursive data architecture enables complexhierarchies of data objects and enables data inheritance. Navigationthrough an HDL may be forward, backward, up, or down, through anavigational tree. The HDL may be broken apart and rearranged in anymanner desired.

[0030] The invention also enables referencing back-end databases such asLDAP, DB2, and Oracle. These data references may be cached andsubsequently retrieved without referring to the back-end databases. Thisenables faster retrieval of the data objects from such systems. Atime-to-live for each cache entry may be set individually for eachcached HDL. The invention also enables invalidation of a cachedreference and rereading of a cached reference regardless of a status ofthe reference.

[0031] Each HDL may be stored as an ordinary “flat file,” and may becopied, moved, backed-up, or deleted using known operating systemcommands. HDLs may also be replicated to remote locations. Preferably,replication is performed in real-time.

[0032] Other objects, advantages, and embodiments of the invention areset forth in part in the description that follows and in part will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033]FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system for storing andtransmitting HDLs according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0034]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a system for storing andtransmitting HDLs according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0035]FIG. 3A is a schematic block diagram of an HDL according to oneembodiment of the invention.

[0036]FIG. 3B is a schematic block diagram of an HDL stored according toone embodiment of the invention.

[0037]FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a string object storedaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

[0038]FIG. 5 is an illustration of an HDL according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

[0039]FIG. 6A is a schematic block diagram of a client-side system formanaging HDLs according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0040]FIG. 6B is a schematic block diagram of a method for managing HDLsaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

[0041]FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a server-side system formanaging HDLs according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0042]FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a system for statisticalmatching according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0043]FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a system for caching anetwork connection according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0044]FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a method for caching anetwork connection according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0045]FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a method for searchingextended regular expressions according to one embodiment of theinvention.

[0046]FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a system for searchingextended regular expressions according to one embodiment of theinvention.

[0047]FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a method formulti-indexing of objects according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0048]FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a system formulti-indexing of objects according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0049]FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a method for enablingunified access to multiple data types according to one embodiment of theinvention.

[0050]FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of a system for enablingunified access to multiple data types according to one embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0051] The invention relates to a system and method for searchingextended regular expressions. The invention enables users to searcharbitrarily complex extended regular expressions.

[0052]FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an overall system forstoring hierarchical objects according to one embodiment of theinvention. The system includes a host computer 100 that includestransmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) proxy 102, oneor more servers 104 a-104 n, database 106, purger 108, global lockmanager 110, and replicator 112. The system may also include a remoteapplication 114 that is in communication with host computer 100.

[0053] TCP/IP proxy 102 enables host computer 100 to accept a TCP/IPconnection. After a TCP/IP connection is made with TCP/IP proxy 102, theconnection may be communicated to a server process. This enables TCP/IPproxy 102 to shield each server process from a potential failure in anyother server process. Servers 104 a-104 n may be used to maintain one ormore TCP/IP connections. Servers 104 a-104 n may be in communicationwith database 106 and may operate independent of each other to reduce achance of failure. Additionally, using this configuration, datacorruption is reduced.

[0054] Data corruption reduction is possible because each location on aserver may have a corresponding code location for code that may modifyonly that particular location. Therefore, the code may not be used tomodify other locations that may be referenced by other processes of theserver that require updates. Additionally, a server may have multiplelocations having the same name. Therefore, by limiting a location thatthe code may modify, this reduces modification errors by modifying alocation not intending to be modified. For example, if a server includestwo (2) locations “1000” and a single code for modifying both locations,the code may modify an incorrect location. This increases a likelihoodof incorrect data being processed. By using only a single code for eachlocation, this reduces a chance for data being corrupted.

[0055] Purger 108 may receive requests from one or more of servers 104a-104 n to schedule automatic deletion of objects within database 106.For example, an application may schedule deletion of one or more HDLstwo (2) weeks after creation. Purger 108 may be used to delete HDLs thathave been designated to be deleted after a predetermined time period.

[0056] Purger 108 may also be used to delete one or more HDLs after alast use expiration. For example, an HDL may be scheduled for deletionafter two weeks. If a user modifies the HDL a day before the expirationof the two weeks, the HDL may still be deleted after the two weeks hasexpired. Therefore, an HDL that may be desired to be retained may bedeleted. Thus, purger 108 may be set to delete an HDL two weeks after alast use of the HDL. In this manner, HDLs may not be deleted if the HDLis still in use. For example, purger 108 may be set to delete an HDL twoweeks after a last use as opposed to two weeks after creation.

[0057] Global lock manager 110 may be used to coordinate explicit recordlocking requests from remote application 114. A record lock request maybe a request from a user to prohibit one or more other users fromaccessing a particular object. A lock may be shared or exclusive, have await time that controls how long an application may wait beforeobtaining a lock, or have an expiration time that controls when a lockmay be automatically released. Global lock manager 110 may alsodynamically display currently held and pending locks.

[0058] Replicator 112 may be used to communicate, for example, using MQSeries, with other replicators. For example, replicator 112 mayreplicate HDLs during an insert command. The insert operation mayprovide a name of a list of instances that may receive a copy of theHDL. A list-of-lists may also be allowed and may be reduced and editedto reduce multiple insertions at a single instance. The list-of-listsmay be recursive.

[0059]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an HDL 200 stored accordingto one embodiment of the invention. HDL 200 may include HDCs embodied aslinked attribute value lists (LAVL) 202 a-202 n and linked attributevalue pairs (LAVP) 204 a-204 n. LAVLs 202 a-202 n may be a list of zero(0) or more LAVPs 204 a-204 n. LAVLs 202 a-202 n may function as aparent for LAVPs 204 a-204 n. An LAVL may contain another LAVL.Therefore, a hierarchical structure may be built to any level ofcomplexity. For example, an inheritance model may be created for aparticular data structure.

[0060] Each LAVP 204 a-204 n may include a header 302 and value 304 asshown in FIG. 3A. Value 304 may contain zero (0) or more bytes of data.The length of the value may be stored in header 302. Each header mayhave a syntax describing a format of the value. For example, a value maybe an Integer, Unicode string, Timevalue, or application defined. AnLAVP may be six (6) words plus the content of the header length field.Preferably, header 302 includes at least six (6) words. Header 302 maybe used to identify an attribute of an HDL and its relationship to otherattributes.

[0061] Header 302 may include a previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, parentLAVL 310, OID 312, length 314, pool ID 316, syntax 318, and data 320 asshown in FIG. 3B. Previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, and parent LAVL 310may be used as pointers to other LAVPs and LAVLs. Previous LAVP 306,next LAVP 308, and parent LAVL 310 may be implemented as relativeoffsets rather than actual pointers. For example, previous LAVP 306 mayrefer to the previous LAVP by a distance in bytes rather than locationof the previous LAVP. Implementing previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, andparent LAVL 310 as relative offsets facilitates placing objects inshared memory segments and memory mapped disk files and transmission. Byusing relative offsets, an object may be referenced by differentaddresses and different processes in the same or other systems.Therefore, LAVLs and LAVPs may not be required to be moved to differentstorage locations and may reside in any place in memory. If an LAVP isnot a member of an LAVL, previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, and parentLAVL 310 may be designated as null, for example, −1.

[0062] For an integer value defined using the following code: #definemy_oid 0×00040005 ost_create_int (my_oid, 27);

[0063] previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, and parent LAVL 310 may have a−1 value indicating a null value, OID 312 may have a 0x00040005 value,length 314 may have a 4 value, pool 316 may have a zero (0) value,syntax 318 may have an ost_syntax_sint32 value, and an additionalelement 320 storing the integer value, that is, 27, may also beincluded.

[0064] Code for carrying out the invention may include various classesof calls. For example, the classes may include creation, identification,navigation, searching, comparison, manipulation, displaying/debugging,and destruction. The creation class may include a create call, theidentification may include an OID, syntax, length call, navigation mayinclude a previous, next, parent, first, last, scan, and traverse calls,searching may include a locate call, manipulation may include a join,weave, merge, unchain, and add calls, and the destruction class mayinclude a free call.

[0065] The following are examples of code that may be used for carryingout the invention. Although the examples are written in C language,other computer languages may also be used. Preferably the followingcommands are performed at the hardware level of a system using theinvention.

[0066] To create an LAVL, the following syntax may be used: #include<ost_lavls.h> Lavl * ost_create_lavl (Oid) Oid oid;

[0067] This function may be used to create an LAVL as shown in FIG. 3B.The returned LAVL pointer contains the address of a LAVL with the givenOID. The LAVL may not be chained to any other LAVPs and contain nochildren. In other words the Previous, Next, LAVL, Parent, Head, andTail pointers are NULL. OID may be an object identifier, for example, aname of an LAVL to be created.

[0068] To create a real value LAVP, the following syntax may be used:#include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp * ost_create_real (oid, value, tolerance,Unitid) Oid oid; double value; Uint16 tolerance Uint16 UnitID

[0069] This function creates a real value LAVP. The value may bedescribed with a tolerance and a UnitID. The value may be the mostlikely value of the data. The tolerance represents a percentage errorthat may be expected not to exceed 95% of the time. The tolerance may bea 16 bit unsigned number that represents 1/1000ths of a percent. Thisimplies that the smallest tolerance is 0% and the largest tolerance is+/−65.535%.

[0070] Pre-defined values for common tolerances may be: #defineMATCH_EXACTLY 0 /* 0% */ #define MATCH_NEARLY 1000 /* 1% */ #defineMATCH_CLOSETO 2000 /* 2% */ #define MATCH_APPROXIMATELY 5000 /* 5% */#define MATCH_AROUND 10000 /* 10%  */ #define MATCH_ROUGHLY 25000 /*25%  */

[0071] The UnitID may be a number from 1 to 499 that represents thedimension of the value. UnitIDs may be found in ‘NAME’ records of theOST configuration and the ost_clientlib.h C language file.

[0072] Example: To create a real value of 160+/−1% pounds:ost_create_real (WEIGHT_OID, 160.0, MATCH_NEARLY, OST_UNIT_pounds);

[0073] Character strings may be represented by a variety of syntaxesthat indicate a character set and an LAVP value area that may include aone (1) word length followed by characters. A request for an LAVP'svalue length may be the length of a value area, not the length of thestring contained therein. There may be two (2) basic types of calls tocreate character strings. LAVP * 0ST_Create_XXXXXX (Oid oid, char *text); may be used to create a string LAVP from a null terminatedstring. The second: LAVP * 0ST_create_XXXXXX (Oid, oid, char * text,Sint 32 length), may be used to create a string from a non-nullterminated string. To create an integer LAVP, the following code may beused: #define my_oid 0×00040005 ost_create_int (my_oid, 27);

[0074] To create a unicode string LAVP from an ASCII string, thefollowing syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp *ost_create_unicode_from_ascii (my_oid, “This is text”) Lavp *ost_create_unicode_from_ascii (my_oid, “This is text”, 12) Oid oid;char * test; Sint32 Length;

[0075] In this example, a header 302 of an LAVP may include thefollowing:

[0076] previous LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, and parent LAVP 310 may have −1values, OID 312 may have a 0x00040005 value, length 314 may have a valueof 28 or more, pool 316 may have a zero (0) value, and syntax 318 mayhave an ost_syntax_unicode value. A value 304 of the LAVP may have a 12value and text including ₀T₀H₀I₀S₀8₀I₀S₀8₀T₀E₀X₀T.

[0077] To create an LAVP that contains a numeric value, the followingsyntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp *ost_create_time_gmt(oid,time) Oid oid; Timeval time;

[0078] This function may be called to create an LAVP with syntaxOST_SYNTAX_TIME,GMT. The time argument may be interpreted in two ways:

[0079] An absolute time, then the time value represents the number ofmicroseconds since Jan. 0, 1970. The time may be represented as arelative time. For example, 5:30. That is, 5 and one-half hours from agiven time. Time values may be added or subtracted to obtain otherabsolute or relative time values. An absolute value may be added to arelative time value to obtain an absolute time value. For example, anabsolute time value of Jan. 1, 1970, plus a relative time value of five(5) and one-half hours yields an absolute time value of Jan. 1, 1970,5:30 a.m. Absolute time values may be subtracted from another absolutetime value to produce a relative time value. The relative time value maybe an amount of time between the two absolute time values. Additionally,relative time values may be added to each other to produce anotherrelative time value.

[0080] To create an LAVP that contains a numeric value, the followingsyntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp * ost_create_time_gmt(oid, time) Oid oid; Timeval time; To create a character string LAVP,the following syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp *ost_create_ascii (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_ascii (oid, text,textlen); Lavp * ost_create_cp850 (oid, test); Lavp * ost_create_cp850(oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_ebedic (oid, text); Lavp *ost_create_ebcdic (oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_hexdata (oid,text); Lavp * ost_create_hexdata (oid, text textlen); Lavp *ost_create_ia5 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_ia5 (oid, text, textlen);Lavp * ost_create_iso6937 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso6937 (oid,text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88591(oid, text); Lavp *ost_create_iso88591 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88592(oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88592 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp *ost_create_iso88593 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88593 (oid, text,textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88594 (oid, text); Lavp *ost_create_iso88594 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88595(oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88595 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp *ost_create_iso88596 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88596 (oid, text,textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88597 (oid, text); Layp *ost_create_iso88597 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_iso88598(oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88598 (oid, text, textlen); Lavp *ost_create_iso88599 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_iso88599 (oid, text,textlen); Lavp * ost_create_isot61 (oid, text); Lavp * ost_create_isot61(oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_create_numeric (oid, text); Lavp *ost_create_numeric (oid, text, textlen); Lavp * ost_createprintabl (oid,text); Lavp * ost_createprintabl (oid, text, textlen); Oid oid; char *text; Sint32 textlen;

[0081] An example of creating an ASCII string, for example, “This istext,” may include the following syntax:

[0082] ost_create_ascii (my_oid, “This is text”)

[0083] A header 302 of an LAVP storing this information may include aprevious LAVP 306, next LAVP 308, and parent LAVP 310 having −1 values,an OID 312 having a 0x00040005 value, a length 314 value of 16 or more,a pool ID of 0, and a syntax of ost_syntax_ascii. The value 304 of theLAVP may include a 12 value and text including “This is text”.

[0084] To create a unicode string LAVP from a ASCII string, thefollowing syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp *ost_create_unicode_from_ascii(oid,text) Lavp *ost_create_unicode_from_ascii(oid,text,length) Oid oid; char * text;Sint32 Length;

[0085] To get a syntax of an LAVP, the following syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Syntax ost_syntax(lavp) Syntax ost_syntax(lavl)Lavp * lavp; Lavl * lavl;

[0086] The ost_syntax function obtains the syntax of the LAVP. If theargument is a NULL value, for example, −1, a SIGBUS error may result.

[0087] To get the address of the previous LAVP in an LAVL, the followingsyntax may be used: # include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp * ost_prev(lavp) Lavp *ost_prev(lavl) Lavp * lavp; Lavl * lavl;

[0088] The ost_prev function obtains the address of the previous LAVP ina LAVL. If the argument is NULL, is the first LAVP in a LAVL, or theLAVP is not in a LAVL then NULL may be returned.

[0089] To get the address of the next LAVP in an LAVL, the followingsyntax may be used: # include <ost_lavls.h> Lavp* ost_next(lavp) Lavp *ostnext(lavl) Lavp * lavp; Lavl * lavl;

[0090] The ost_next function obtains the address of the next LAVP in aLAVL. If the argument is NULL, is the last LAVP in a LAVL, or the LAVPis not in a LAVL then NULL is returned.

[0091] To get the address of a parent LAVL from an LAVP, the followingsyntax may be used: # include <ost_lavls.h> Lavl * ost_lavl(lavp) Lavl *ost_lavl(lavl) Lavp * lavp; Lavl * lavl;

[0092] The ost_lavl function obtains the address of the parent LAVL foran LAVP. If the argument is NULL or the LAVP is not in a LAVL then NULLis returned.

[0093] To search the database for a Real value the following code may beused: where_clause=ost_EQ( ost_create_real  (WEIGHT_OID,MATCH_AROUND,  72.0, OST_UNIT_kilograms));

[0094] To add an LAVP to an LAVL, the following syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> Lavl * ost_add(existing_lavl,new_lavp) Lavl *ost_add(existing_lavl,new_lavl) Lavl * existing_lavl; Lavp * new_lavp;Lavl * new_lavl;

[0095] This function may be called to add an LAVP or LAVL to a LAVL. TheLAVP/LAVL may be from any LAVL that it may be a member of and isrechained to the end (bottom) of the LAVL. If the LAVP is not a memberof a LAVL then a simple add may occur. If either operand is NULL then noaction may occur.

[0096] This function is very commonly used in conjunction with theost_create_( ) function as follows: Before L1 L3 P1 P11 P2 P12 P3 P13 L2L4 P4 P14 P5 P15 P6 P16 P7 P17 P8 P18 P9 P19 ost_add(L1,P15); After L1L3 P1 P11 P2 P12 P3 P13 L2 L4 P4 P14 P5 P6 P16 P7 P17 P8 P18 P9 P19 P15

[0097] To disassociate an LAVP or LAVL from a LAVL, the following syntaxmay be used: # include <ost_lavls.h> void ost_unchain(lavp) voidost_unchain(lavl) Lavp * lavp; Lavl * lavl;

[0098] This function may be used to dissociate an LAVP or LAVL from aLAVL. The LAVL's address may be determined from the LAVP by internallycalling ost_lavl(lavp). The LAVL's head and tail may be updated ifrequired and the LAVP's previous and next siblings are rechainedtogether as appropriate. The argument LAVP's LAVL, previous, and nextpointers are set to NULL to indicate that the LAVP is no longer a memberof any LAVL. The LAVP may be indicated as a loose object if this featureis enabled. The contents of the LAVP may then be preserved.

[0099] To display an LAVP or LAVL, the following syntax may be used: #include <ost_lavls.h> extern FILE * ost_display_FILE; void ost_display(lavl) void ost_display (lavp) Lavl * lavl; Lavp *lavp;

[0100] OID 312 may be used to identify a name of an object. Length 314may be used to identify a length of the object. Pool ID 316 may be usedto identify a group to which that object may be associated. Syntax 318may be used to identify a format of the LAVL's value. Data 320 may beused to store the LAVL's data. Length 314 may be computed based on value304 and syntax 318. Pool ID 316 preferably uses an eight (8) bitidentification.

[0101]FIG. 4 illustrates an LAVP storing a string according to oneembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, a string object 400 mayinclude string length 402, string 404, and optional spare space 406.String length 402 may be used to identify the length of string 404.Optional spare space 406 may be used to expand string 404 if desired.

[0102] The invention may also enable storing concepts and colors. FIG. 5illustrates an HDL 500 storing a concept. The concept stored as shown isa man's clothing ensemble. HDL 500 may include all information relatingto one ensemble. By storing all the information together as a singleobject only, a single call from a server to request all or a portion ofHDL 500 may be needed. HDL 500 includes the following HDCs: ensemble502, color 504, shirt 506, pants 508, and shoes 510. HDL 500 alsoincludes the following HDEs: size 512, material 514, sleeve 516,material 518, inseam 520, material 522, size 524, and color-black 526.HDEs 512-516 identify particular criteria for HDC 506. That is, HDEs512-516 indicate the size, material, and sleeve for shirt 506 in theensemble. HDEs 518-520 indicate a material and inseam for pants 508 inthe ensemble. HDEs 522-526 indicate the material, size, and color forshoes 510 in the ensemble. It should be noted that color HDC 504indicates a color for each portion of the ensemble following that HDC.HDE 526, however, indicates a particular color for the shoes. Therefore,the color indicated in HDC 504 may be overridden by the color indicatedin HDE 526. Each HDC and HDE 504-526 may include descriptions for eachportion of the ensemble. Therefore, if a user submits a call, forexample, for ensembles having black shoes, HDL 500 may be retrieved. Ifthe user then further desires to view information regarding otherportions of ensemble 502, HDL 500 includes all of the information andtherefore, the system does not require another call to a server torequest any additional information because the information may alreadybe included in HDL 500.

[0103] A user may navigate through HDL 500 by drilling-up ordrilling-down. For example, for HDE 522, a user may be presented withinformation regarding HDE 520 or other portion of the ensemble. Althoughnot shown in FIG. 5, the ensemble may also include other informationsuch as, for example, accessories or other clothing.

[0104] Additionally, because entire HDL 500 is retrieved, no parsing ofthe data contained therein may be necessary. The system may not berequired to parse through one or more HDLs and determine particular dataelements that satisfy a request and retrieve only those data elements.This reduces processing time because parsing of data may not benecessary and drilling-down or up may be performed at a client and notat a server.

[0105] Storing conceptual information as a single hierarchical objectmay decrease retrieval time. As stated above, because all informationregarding a particular concept is stored within a single object, theobject may be stored locally by an application and is not required tocontact a server for retrieving additional information regarding theconcept.

[0106] As data is stored, an application designer or other user maystore data related to a particular concept as a hierarchical tree. Theapplication designer or other user has the flexibility to include asmuch information as desired into a single object. This flexibilityenables application designers or other users to store complete conceptswithin a single object.

[0107] Additionally, HDLs may include references to other HDLs. Forexample, an HDL that describes a man's clothing ensemble as shown inFIG. 5 may include a reference to an HDL that contains all informationregarding another ensemble for a man. This may be performed by insertinga where clause in a code describing the ensemble stored in the HDL thatcalls another ensemble HDL, retrieves the other ensemble HDL, andinserts that other ensemble HDL into the first ensemble HDL. In thismanner, HDLs may include other HDLs as well.

[0108] The invention also enables storing colors. Colors may be storedas equations identifying three (3) dimensional color space. Therefore, acolor attribute may be ascribed to a particular data element. A colorattribute may be stored by identifying a red, green, and bluecharacteristic of a particular color using a predetermined range ofvalues. For example, each red, green, and blue characteristic of a colormay be expressed as a percentage from zero (0) to one-hundred (100).Alternatively, if a color is stored as a one byte of data, eachattribute may be assigned a value from zero (0) to two-hundredfifty-five (255). Therefore, red, green, and blue attributes may bedescribed as any relative range of values.

[0109] For example, a color having red, green, and blue attributes equalto zero (0) may define a black color. Alternatively, if each red, green,and blue attribute is defined as one-hundred (100) percent of eachcolor, then the color defined may be white. Furthermore, if a colorattribute is expressed as fifty (50) percent red, fifty (50) percentgreen, and fifty (50) percent blue, the color may be gray.

[0110] A color attribute may be defined as a distance from each red,green, and blue attribute as shown on a three (3) dimensional colorspace. Therefore, each color may be defined as:

D={square root}{square root over ((R ₁ −R ₂)²+(B ₁ −B ₂)²+(G ₁ −G ₂)²)}

[0111] where D equals a distance between two (2) colors having R1, B 1,G1 and R2, B2, and G2 attributes, respectively. The distance may bedefined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the differencesof each color component. By having each color component stored as one(1) byte of data, therefore, there may be a total of twenty-four (24)bits that may be used to express a plurality of colors. Thus, at least16 million different colors may be represented.

[0112] The invention also enables statistical matching. Statisticalmatching may be used to retrieve real values within a predeterminedtolerance. For example, an object may be stored that describesproperties of a brick. The brick may have a length, width, height,weight, etc. A user may request objects describing a brick that has aweight of five (5) pounds plus or minus five (5) percent. The user mayrequest such information using any known input device, for example, akeyboard, mouse, voice recognition software, touchscreen, etc. Therequest may be submitted to a server. The server may assume a normaldistribution. The server may convert the units of measurement, that is,pounds, into other equivalent units of measurement, for example,kilograms, tons, grams, etc. A normally distributed statistical curvemay then be calculated for the tolerance specified.

[0113] The statistical curve may be used to determine whether anyobjects match the user's request. This may be done by calculating astatistical curve for all objects related to the user's request. Thestatistical curve for the requested objects may then be superimposed onthe statistical curve for all of the objects. A match may be determinedby an area under both curves within the predefined tolerance. If thereare no portions of the curves that overlap within the predefinedtolerance, a no match result may be presented to the user. If, however,the curves overlap within the predefined tolerance, a match result maybe presented to the user.

[0114] Therefore, a statistical curve for a brick weighing five (5)pounds plus or minus five (5) percent would indicate that bricks havinga weight in a range of 4.75 pounds to 5.25 pounds are acceptable. Theserver may then determine objects comprising information relating tobricks having a weight within that range. The server may then return toa user a list of objects that match the requested specification. Theobjects meeting the specification may also be presented to the user. Amatch/no match indicator may also be presented to the user. Furthermore,an indication of a number of matching objects out of a total number ofobjects may also be presented to the user.

[0115] As indicated above, the syntax used to search for objects havinga particular specification includes a value, tolerance, and unit. Theinvention may index compatible units. For example, an index for weightmay include pounds, kilograms, grams, tons, etc.

[0116] The invention also enables fuzzy searching capability. An indexof real values containing units may be searched. A search argument usedfor searching the index may include a value, tolerance, and unit. Theinvention may first convert an index entry and search argument to astandard unit. A decision may then be made depending on a statedtolerance of the index entry and the search argument. The index entrymay be assumed to be normally distributed and the tolerance expressed asa percentage may be taken to be the second standard deviation interval(95%). The tolerance may then be used to calculate the statisticalprobability that an index entry is less than, equal to, or greater thana search argument. A search argument may also contain concepts such asexactly, close to, nearly, approximately, about, and roughly. Theseconcepts may be used in both the storage and retrieval of data and maybe pre-set by a system administrator. For example, a systemadministrator may pre-set a nearby tolerance to one (1) percent, anexactly tolerance to zero (0) percent, an about tolerance to ten (10)percent, etc.

[0117] Search arguments may also be used to perform searches on simpleindexes, for example, searching a database for names of one or morepersons. The syntax for a search command may include the following: #include <ost_clientlib.h> Lavl * ost_queue_search (session,where_clause) OST_Session * session; Lavl * where_clause

[0118] The search algorithm may be implemented using Venn Sets. When anobject is inserted into the database with the index option enabled, theneach eligible OID is indexed. An index may contain a list of each uniquevalue for the OID. For each unique value a list of Object Numbers may bemaintained. For example, the following objects may be stored in thedatabase and indexed on GIVENNAME_OID and SURNAME_OID. Object 1 L(FAMILY_OID) ASCII (SURNAME_OID) = ‘SMITH’ L (FATHER_OID) ASCII(GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘JOHN’ L (MOTHER_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘JANE’ L(SON_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘JOE’ L (SON_OID) ASCII(GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘JOSHUA’ L (DAUGHTER_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) =‘JANET’ ASCII (SURNAME_OID) = ‘JONES’ L (DAUGHTER_OID) ASCII(GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘JULIA’ Object 2 L (FAMILY_OID) ASCII (SURNAME_OID) =‘JONES’ L (FATHER_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘SAM’ L (MOTHER_OID)ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘SHIRLEY’ L (SON_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) =‘JOE’ L (SON_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘SHAWN’ Object 3 L(FAMILEY_OID) ASCII (SURNAME_OID) = ‘ADDAMS’ L (FATHER_OID) ASCII(GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘GOMEZ’ L (MOTHER_OID) ASCII (SURNAME_OID) = ‘JONES’ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘MORTICIA’ L (SON_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) =‘PUGSLY’ L (DAUGHTER_OID) ASCII (GIVENNAME_OID) = ‘WEDNESDAY’

[0119] A search command may also contain Boolean logic such as “and” and“or.” An example of syntax that may be used to create an “and” conditionfor use in a search argument may be the following: #include<ost_clientlib.h> Lav1 * ost_AND(lav11, lav12) Lav1 * lav1l; Lav1 *lav12;

[0120] The ost_AND function may create an AND condition in a SearchArgument. For example, to express the conditionWHERE(GIVENNAME_OID=‘Jane’) AND (SURNAME_OID=‘Smith), the following codemay be used: Lav1 * where; Lav1 * arg1; Lav1 * arg2;arg1=ost_EQ(ost_create_ascii(GIVENNAME_OID, “Jane”));arg2=ost_EQ(ost_create_ascii(SURNAME_OID, “Smith”)); where=ost_AND(arg1,arg2);

[0121] To create an “or” condition for use in a search argument, thefollowing syntax may be used: #include <ost_clientib.h> Lav1 *ost_OR(lav11, lav12) Lav1 * lav1l; Lav1 * lav12;

[0122] The ost_OR function creates an OR condition in a Search Argument.For example, to express the condition WHERE (GIVENNAME_OID=‘Jane’) OR(SURNAME_OID=‘Smith’), the following code may be used: Lav1 * where;Lav1 * arg1; Lav1 * arg2; arg1=ost_EQ(ost_create_ascii(GIVENNAM_OID,“Jane”)); arg2=ost_EQ(ost_create_ascii(SURNAME_OID, “Smith”));where=ost_OR(arg1, arg2);

[0123] The invention preferably includes units of measurements relatedto a plurality of measurements and may convert among each unit within aparticular category of measurement. The invention preferably includes aunits table compiled once and may be edited by a user as needed.

[0124] The invention also enables multi-indexing of objects. The objectsmay be indexed according to ASCII code, string, or other criteria. If anobject is not indexed, the object is preferably assigned a serialnumber. An object may include multiple indexes and cells within an indexmay include multiple values. For example, letters A, B, C, and D may beindexed as R1, R2, R3, and R4, respectively. Letter E, however, may beindexed as R1. Therefore, one cell or record may have multiple aliases.The indexes are preferably created over an entire object, althoughindexes may be created based on particular fields. Indexes over anentire record, however, may yield broader results for searches performedon the index. For example, a search of an index for families having afemale child may yield objects that comprise a mother and a child wherethe child may not necessarily be female. This may be due to the mothersatisfying the female portion of the search request and the childsatisfying the child portion of the search request.

[0125] The invention also enables creating multi-indexes with one (1)insert. Multi-indexing may be enabled because when an object is created,each HDC and HDE provided in the object may be indexed upon creation ofthe object. Therefore, it may not be necessary to individually insertone or more HDCs or HDEs from an object into an index. The invention mayautomatically index each HDC and HDE in an object.

[0126] The invention also enables reference to back end databases suchas LDAP, DB2, and Oracle. When referencing an LDAP database, theinvention may return LDAP entries as LAVLs rather than Bit Error Rate(BER) encoded strings. This enables navigation among various dataelements. Additionally, as described above, the invention may returnentire HDLs that include all information relating to a particular dataelement. This reduces the number of calls needed to be made against arecord at a server. Navigation may be performed backward and forward andto detect and process multi-valued LDAP entries.

[0127] Another advantage is that the invention automaticallydistinguishes syntaxes of objects retrieved from a back-end database.The invention also stores the syntax and value for a particular record.Therefore, the invention provides unified access to multiple types ofdatabases by providing a common application programming interface.

[0128] The invention also enables maintaining of network connections.After a connection to a back-end database, for example, from a server orother device is established, the connection to the back-end database maybe maintained. Therefore, if a user cancels a connection to a server, aconnection between the server and the back-end database may bemaintained. Thus, if a user reconnects to the server and requestsadditional information from the back-end database, the server does notneed to reconnect to the back-end database because the previousconnection has been maintained. Therefore, processing time is reducedbecause reconnection time may not be necessary. The server may determinewhether an open connection exists for one or more particular devices,for example, by maintaining a list of open connections. Therefore, ifthe server receives a request for information from a database or otherdevice, the server may check the list of open connections and determinewhether a connection to that database or device exists. If adetermination is made that a connection is open, the server may use thatconnection to satisfy the request. This reduces a need for a server toreestablish a connection to a particular device on numerous occasions.

[0129] The invention also enables searching of extended regularexpressions and Unicode strings in the spirit of UNIX eGREP(1) command.For example, a search may be performed on ASCII strings that include athree (3) digit code. ASCII strings may include key 001, key 002, andkey 003. A search may be performed on the ASCII strings using anextended regular expression that may be arbitrarily complex. Forexample, a search expression may be “<key0-[12].” A search of the ASCIIstrings using this expression may yield key 001 and key 002.

[0130] Additionally, Unicode strings may also be searched. Unicodestring searches may be SQL-like statements. For example, a Unicodestring search may be “text”. This enables searches of exact Unicodestrings.

[0131] The invention may also include a memory debugging feature. Thefeature may be implemented using, for example, seven levels ofdiagnostic data, one level may be an environmental “M” option. Settingthis option may cause all LAVPs to be set to a particular format whenthe LAVP is freed from memory. This may be used to increase thelikelihood that an LAVP is not referenced after it is free. Thedebugging option may also include an environmental “L” option thatcauses loose object detection. This option may cause an LAVLsapplication programming interface to maintain a list of every LAVP thatis not in an LAVL. The debugging feature may also include an option thatdisables an internal object identifier look aside buffer. The look asidebuffer may be used to increase the performance of an LAVP locatorfunction. If a loose object detection option is enabled, the system maydisplay contents of a loose object list that may be invoked at any time.This may provide several levels of diagnostic data that may facilitatelocating objects and their creation. Objects may automatically be placedonto and removed from a loose object list whenever a parent pointer ismade non-null or null, respectively.

[0132]FIG. 6A illustrates a system 600 for managing one or more HDLs.System 600 may include an HDC creating module 602, HDL creating module604, command creating module 606, command submitting module 608, and HDEcreating module 610. HDC creating module 602 may be used to create anHDC to be stored within an HDL. If an HDL is created, HDL creatingmodule 604 may be used to create the HDL. The HDCs and HDLs created, maybe created using one or more commands input by a user. Command creatingmodule 606 may be used to enable the user to create the commands forcreating one or more HDCs and HDLs.

[0133] Command submitting module 608 may be used to submit the commandsto a server for processing. Additionally, an HDE creating module 610 maybe used to create one or more HDEs that may be included in one or moreHDCs and HDLs.

[0134] After each HDC, HDE, and HDL is created, storing module 612 maybe used to store the HDCs, HDEs, and HDLs at a location in memory of aclient or other device. An identifier assigning module 614 may be usedto assign an identifier to one or more HDLs.

[0135] As described above, an HDL may include a length field. Therefore,length determining module 616 may be used to determine a length of datastored by an HDL. A format determining module 618 may also be used todetermine a format of the data stored by the HDL.

[0136] After one or more commands are submitted to a server by commandsubmitting module 608, a response from the server may be received usingresponse receiving module 620. A response analyzing module 622 may beused to analyze the response received from the server. The analysis mayinclude determining whether the response includes one or more HDLs,whether the HDLs include one or more HDCs or HDEs, determining datastored by the HDLs, or other analysis.

[0137] If a determination is made that the response includes one or moreHDLs, an HDL analyzing module 624 may be used to analyze the HDLs. Theanalysis may included determining whether the HDL includes one or moreHDCs or HDEs, data stored by the HDL, or other analysis. Navigatingmodule 626 may be used to navigate either forward or backward through anHDL. Manipulating module 628 may be used to manipulate one or more HDLs.Manipulating the HDLs may include joining two or more HDLs, weaving twoor more HDLs, merging or adding two or more HDLs together, unchaining anHDC or HDE from and HDL, etc. A freeing module 630 may also be used tofree an HDC, HDE, or HDL. Preferably, freeing an HDC, HDE, or HDLincludes removing the HDC, HDE, or HDL from an HDL. This may beequivalent to a delete operation.

[0138]FIG. 6B illustrates a method for managing HDLs according to oneembodiment of the invention. The method may include a create HDC step650. Step 650 may be used to create one or more HDCs. A create HDL step652 may then be used to create one or more HDLs. The HDLs may includeone or more of the HDCs created using step 650. A create command step654 may be used to create a command that stores data in the HDCs. Instep 656, the command created using step 654 may be submitted to, forexample, a server.

[0139] A create HDE step 658 can then be used to create one or moreHDEs. The HDEs may be included in an HDC and/or HDL. In step 660, theHDL may be stored to, for example, an object store. In assign identifierstep 662 may be used to assign an identifier to the HDL stored. Steps664 and 666 may be used to determine a length and format of data in theHDL stored.

[0140]FIG. 7 illustrates a server 700 that may be used for managingHDLs. Server 700 may include a communications module 702, commandreceiving module 704, execution module 706, response creating module708, response transmitting module 710, replicating module 712, purgingmodule 714, global locking module 716, index creating module 718, andreferencing module 720. Communications module 702 may be used tocommunicate with one or more clients. The communications are preferablytransmitted over a network, for example, the Internet. Thecommunications may use any known communication method.

[0141] Command receiving module 704 may be used to receive one or morecommands from a client. Execution module 706 may execute the commandsreceived by command receiving module 704. Response creating module 708may then create a response to the commands received and executed byexecution module 706. Response transmitting module may transmit theresponse to the client.

[0142] Replicating module 712 may be used to replicate one or more HDLs,HDCs, or HDEs. Replication may be performed in response to a commandreceived from a client by command receiving module 704. Purging module714 may also be used to purge one or more HDLs, HDCs, or HDEs. Purgingmay include deleting an HDL, HDC, or HDE from a memory of server 700.Global locking module 716 may be used to prevent access to one or moreHDLs by a particular user. For example, global locking module 716 mayprohibit one or more users from accessing the HDL. Global locking module716 may prohibit access based on attributes stored within a user profileor provided in an HDL.

[0143] Index creating module 718 may be used to create an index based onone or more HDLs. Any HDCs or HDEs included in an HDL may be used forcreating an index of HDCs or HDEs included in each HDL. Index creatingmodule 718 may create multiple indexes upon creation of an HDL.Therefore, if one HDL is created, multiple inserts may be created in anindex by index creating module 718. Referencing module 720 may be usedto reference, for example, one or more back-end databases. The back-enddatabases may include an LDAP, Oracle, or DB2 database. Referencingmodule 720 may enable an entire database to be referenced by an HDL. Forexample, an HDL may include an HDC that references an Oracle database.Therefore, when the HDL that references the Oracle database isrequested, the Oracle database is retrieved along with the HDLrequested. This reduces the number of calls that may be necessary forretrieving the Oracle database. Thus, the HDL requested and the Oracledatabase are retrieved using a single call.

[0144]FIG. 8 illustrates a system 800 for statistical matching accordingto one embodiment of the invention. System 800 may include an HDLrequest received in the module 802, searching module 804, requestssatisfying determining module 806, first statistical curve determiningmodule 808, second statistical curve determining module 810, overlapdetermining module 812, converting module 814, HDL presenting module816, match result presenting module 818, non-match result presentingmodule 820, and indicating module 822. HDL request receiving module 802may be used to receive a request for one or more HDLs. Searching module804 may then search, for example, an object store, for one or more HDLssatisfying the request. Request satisfying determining =module 806 maybe used to determine whether one or more HDLs in the object storesatisfy the requests. If a determination is made that one or more HDLssatisfy the request, first statistical curve determining module 808 maybe used to determine a statistical curve for HDLs described by therequest.

[0145] Second statistical curve determining module 810 may then be usedto determine a statistical curve for one or more HDLs stored by theobject store that satisfy the request. Overlap determining module 812may be used to determine whether any overlap exists between the firststatistical curve and the second statistical curve. The statisticalcurves may assume a normal distribution. Any overlap between the twocurves may be defined as a percentage match by a user. For example, auser may define overlap between the two statistical curves and a matchindicating a match of 95%.

[0146] Converting module 814 may be used to convert units presenting ina request to a common set of units. For example, if a request indicatesthat HDLs describing bricks weighing in a certain range of grams,converting module 814 may convert the grams to, for example, pounds, tocoincide with units for weight stored by the object store. HDLpresenting module 816 may then be used to present one or more HDLs thatsatisfy the request. Alternatively, a match result or non-match resultmay be presented using modules 818 or 820, respectively. Indicatingmodule 822 may also be used to indicate a closeness of HDLs matching therequest. For example, indicating module may indicate that three-hundred(300) of five-hundred (500) HDLs satisfied the request.

[0147]FIG. 9 illustrates a system 900 for caching a network connection.System 900 may include a first connection request receiving module 902,first connection establishing module 904, second connection requestingmodule 906, second connection establishing module 908, second connectionmaintaining module 910, disconnection request receiving module 912,disconnecting module 914, and connection sustaining module 916. Firstconnection request receiving module 902 may be used to receive aconnection request from, for example, a client device, at a server.First connection establishing module 904 may be used to establish aconnection between the client device and the server. Second connectionrequesting module 906 may then be used to request a second connectionfrom the server to an end device, for example, a database. Secondconnection establishing module 908 may then be used to establish asecond connection between the server and the database. Second connectionmaintaining module 910 may be used to maintain a record of connectionsestablished between the server and an end device. For example, therecord may be a list of open connections between the server and otherend devices.

[0148] Disconnection request receiving module 912 may be used to receivea disconnection request from a client device. Disconnecting module 914may be used to disconnect the connection between the client device andthe server. Although the connection between the client device and theserver may be disconnected, connection sustaining module 916 may be usedto sustain the connection between the server and the end device.Therefore, if a first connection request is received after a connectionbetween a client device and a server has been disconnected, and a clientdevice request information from an end device to which the server isalready connected, the server may not be required to reestablish theconnection with the end device. In this manner the server maintains openconnections with end devices for a predetermined period of time. Thisreduces connection time and does not require a server to reestablishconnections with end devices each time a request is received forinformation from a particular end device.

[0149]FIG. 10 is an illustration of a method for caching in a networkconnection. The method may include a receive first connection request1010. Step 1010 may receive a first connection request from a clientdevice at a server. In step 1012, a first connection may be establishedbetween the client device and the server. In step 1014, the server mayrequest a second connection between the server and an end device. Forexample, the server may have received a search request from the clientdevice to search, for example, a back end database. Therefore, theserver may need to request a connection to the back end database. Step1016 may be used to establish the second connection between the serverand the back end database. In step 1018, a second connection record maybe maintained for open connections between the server and the back enddatabase and any other end devices.

[0150] In step 1020, the server may receive a disconnection request fromthe client device. Step 1022 may be used to disconnect the firstconnection between the client device and the server. Step 1024 may beused, however, to sustain the second connection between the server andback end database and other end devices. In this manner, if a serverreceives a request to perform an operation at a back end database orother end device to which the server has previously established aconnection, the server may not be required to reestablish theconnection. A search of the second connection record may be performed todetermine whether a connection has previously been established andwhether that connection has been sustained. If a search of theconnection record determines that a connection to the particular enddevice requested, the server may use that open connection instead ofrequesting another connection to the end device. This reduces connectiontime.

[0151]FIG. 11 illustrates a method for searching extended regularexpressions according to one embodiment of the invention. The method mayinclude a receive search request step 1102. Step 1102 may be used toreceive an extended regular expression search request from one or moreusers. In step 1104, the extended regular expression provided in thesearch request may be parsed to determine particular elements of theexpression for which to search. An object store may then be searched tolocate extended regular expressions satisfying the search request instep 1106. If one or more extended regular expressions that satisfy thesearch request are located, step 1108 may be used to present theextended regular expressions to the user.

[0152]FIG. 12 is an illustration of a system 1200 for searching extendedregular expressions. System 1200 may include a receiving module 1202,parsing module 1204, searching module 1206, and presenting module 1208.Receiving module 1202 may be used to receive one or more search requestsfor extended regular expressions from one or more users. Parsing module1204 may be used to parse the extended regular expressions provided inthe search request to determine particular elements of the extendedregular expression for which to search. Presenting module 1208 may thenbe used to present any extended regular expression located as a resultof the search.

[0153]FIG. 13 is an illustration of a method for multi-indexing ofobjects. A create HDL step 1302 may be used to create one or more HDLs.After creating the HDLs, step 1304 may be used to determine one or morefields included in the HDLs. Based on the fields determined in step1304, step 1306 may be used to create an index of data included in thefields. Step 1306 may create multiple indexes based on a single HDLcreated. For example, data contained in the fields may be used to createmultiple indexes based on a type of index created. For example, for HDLsthat include personal information of one or more users, indexing may becreated based on first name, last name, gender, or other criteria.Therefore, an index may be created for each criteria. After creating anindex, step 1308 may be used to assign an alias to data contained withinthe fields. An alias may be, for example, an HDL containing that data.

[0154]FIG. 14 is an illustration of a system 1400 for multi-indexing ofobjects. System 1400 may include an HDL creating module 1402, fielddetermining module 1404, index creating module 1406, and alias assigningmodule 1408. HDL creating module 1402 may be used to create one or moreHDLs. After the HDLs are created, field determining module 1404 may beused to determine the fields contained within the HDLs. Index creatingmodule 1406 may then be used to create one or more indexes based on thefields determined by field determining module 1404. Data included withinthe fields may be indexed according to a variety of criteria. Aliasassigning module 1408 may be used to assign an alias for the dataindexed. The alias may refer to the HDL that includes that data.

[0155]FIG. 15 illustrates a method for enabling unified access tomultiple data types. The method may include a receive data request step1502. In step 1502, a server or other device may receive one or moredata requests from one or more users. A determine syntax step 1504 maybe used to determine a syntax of the data requested. Step 1506 may thenbe used to determine an end device from which the data requested may beretrieved. After determining the end device, step 1508 may be used toaccess that end device. The data may then be retrieved in step 1510.Step 1512 may also be used to retrieve an attribute of the data.Preferably, the attribute is retrieved based on an attribute numberassigned to the attribute.

[0156] Step 1514 may then be used to store a value of the data. Thesyntax of the data may also be stored in step 1516. Step 1518 may beused to store the data which may include the value and the syntax. Thedata may be stored as a character string.

[0157]FIG. 16 illustrates a system 1600 for enabling unified access tomultiple data types. System 1600 may include a receiving module 1602,determining module 1604, accessing module 1606, retrieving module 1608,and storing module 1610. Receiving module 1602 may be used to receiveone or more data requests from one or more users. Determining module1604 may be used to determine an end device from which the datarequested may be retrieved. After determining the end device, accessingmodule 1606 may be used to access the end device. Retrieving module 1608may then be used to retrieve the data requested and possibly anattribute of the data. After retrieving the data and possible attribute,storing module 1610 may be used to store the data and attribute.

[0158] The foregoing description of a system and method for storinghierarchical objects is illustrative, and changes in the aboveconstruction and sequences of operation may occur to persons skilled inthe art. For example, although multiple modules are shown for carryingout the invention, additional or fewer modules may be used and multiplemodules may be positioned in various locations. The scope of theinvention is accordingly intended to be limited only by the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for searching extended regularexpressions, comprising the steps of: receiving a search request for atleast one extended regular expression; parsing the at least one extendedregular expression; searching at least one object store for the at leastone extended regular expression; and presenting the at least oneextended regular expression.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast one extended regular expression is arbitrarily complex.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one extended regular expressioncomprises an ASCII string.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the searchrequest further comprises a Unicode string.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the Unicode string comprises a SQL statement.
 6. A system forsearching extended regular expressions, comprising: a receiving modulethat receives a search request for at least one extended regularexpression; a parsing module that parses the at least one extendedregular expression; a searching module that searches at least one objectstore for the at least one extended regular expression; and a presentingmodule that presents the at least one extended regular expression. 7.The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one extended regularexpression is arbitrarily complex.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein theat least one extended regular expression comprises an ASCII string. 9.The system of claim 6, wherein the search request further comprises aUnicode string.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the Unicode stringcomprises a SQL statement.
 11. A system for searching extended regularexpressions, comprising: receiving means for receiving a search requestfor at least one extended regular expression; parsing means for parsingthe at least one extended regular expression; searching means forsearching at least one object store for the at least one extendedregular expression; and presenting means for presenting the at least oneextended regular expression.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the atleast one extended regular expression is arbitrarily complex.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the at least one extended regular expressioncomprises an ASCII string.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein thesearch request further comprises a Unicode string.
 15. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the Unicode string comprises a SQL statement.
 16. Aprocessor readable medium comprising processor readable code forsearching extended regular expressions, comprising: receiving code thatcauses a processor to receive a search request for at least one extendedregular expression; parsing code that causes a processor to parse the atleast one extended regular expression; searching code that causes aprocessor to search at least one object store for the at least oneextended regular expression; and presenting code that causes a processorto present the at least one extended regular expression.
 17. The mediumof claim 16, wherein the at least one extended regular expression isarbitrarily complex.
 18. The medium of claim 16, wherein the at leastone extended regular expression comprises an ASCII string.
 19. Themedium of claim 16, wherein the search request further comprises aUnicode string.
 20. The medium of claim 19, wherein the Unicode stringcomprises a SQL statement.